Oil companies are having a tougher time making money

One explanation for falling prices is the glut of cheap domestic oil from the fracking boom . But the industry is also confronting what Bloomberg energy analysts have characterized as a “demand shock .” California’s new regulations on fuels’ carbon intensity and the Obama administration’s aggressive fuel efficiency standards , scheduled to take effect in 2025, are steering carmakers toward designs that use less gasoline. “We’re on the opposite side of the oil companies in the battle over the low-carbon fuel standard,” says General Motors spokesman Shad Balch. “The first company with a no-gas car wins.” Citi’s commodity research team predicts these factors, combined with the rising use of natural gas, will cause the rate of U.S. oil consumption to peak by 2030. In August, the Interior Department reported an almost unprecedented lack of interest in purchasing leases for new ...